OEKO-TEX® And ecVision Team Up To Expand Communication And Collaboration In The Textile Supply Chain

ZURICH, Switzerland — May 20, 2014 — The International OEKO-TEX® Association and ecVision® announce that they have joined forces to integrate OEKO-TEX® certification information into the product data available for the companies around the world who use ecVision’s cloud-based ecVision Suite® supply chain collaboration platform. With the new partnership, ecVision customers, brand, retailers, and wholesalers, have visibility to their suppliers’ OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 textile product certifications and STeP by OEKO-TEX® sustainable textile facility certifications including certificate numbers and expiration dates.

Through ecVision’s online portal, suppliers will upload OEKO-TEX® certification information that relates to their materials or facilities. With this information, sourcing and compliance teams can validate the information against OEKO-TEX’s global registry. If there are discrepancies, alerts will be sent to the manufacturers, as well as to the brand, thus ensuring up-to-date accuracy and transparency. ecVision Suite will store and maintain this information in the platform, thus eliminating the need for suppliers to provide the information separately. In addition, brands and retailers can search the database for OEKO-TEX® certified suppliers as they begin new product development or make decisions about manufacturing and sourcing compliance with regulatory directives.

“Our partnership with ecVision will provide a seamless link between our OEKO-TEX® certified product manufacturers and their customers as well as giving them increased visibility with potential new customers,” says Dr. Sam Moore who represents OEKO-TEX® in North America. “Now brands and retailers can more easily identify responsible suppliers who have had their products tested to be sure they are free from more than 300 dangerous substances and that they comply with critical product safety regulations such as CPSIA in the US and REACH in the EU. They can also find certified textile manufacturing facilities that adhere to the latest sustainability standards.”

“The integration of OEKO-TEX® certification information into the ecVision database will make the information exchange between our customers and their suppliers easier and more effective,” says Gary Barraco, ecVision’s Vice President of Industry Development. “With today’s complex, global textile supply chain, having accurate product and facility certification information readily available makes everything easier, from collaborating on product development, to making sourcing decisions, to confirming regulatory compliance at the product, supplier and P.O. level.”

Except for WRAP, OEKO-TEX® is the only third-party, independent certification system integrated with ecVision’s supply chain collaboration platforms.

OEKO-TEX® and ecVision will unveil the details of their new partnership to the industry with webinars in June and at a joint presentation entitled “Raw Materials– Ensuring Transparency and Traceability in the World’s Most Complex Supply Chain” at the AAFA Traceability Event in Portland, OR, on Wednesday, July 9. More details on the event can be found on the AAFA’s website at www.wewear.org.